Joe Biden is said to have become more receptive to the idea that he may have to stand down and allow another candidate to take his place to beat Donald Trump.

US media reports said Mr Biden’s tone had changed behind closed doors, and he was now “willing to listen” to those making the case for him to end his campaign.

It comes as some of his closest allies at the top of the Democratic Party have begun to turn on him and now believe that he cannot beat Donald Trump.

Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi are all reported to have told Mr Biden that he is likely to lose the presidential election, following weeks of concern about his age and health.

The claims include that Mr Schumer, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, visited Mr Biden on Saturday to argue that he should leave the race and make way for a younger candidate.

Mr Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, also reportedly expressed concerns about recent polling that shows Mr Biden trailing Trump in battleground states and performing worse with voters than Kamala Harris, his vice president.

Ms Pelosi, a party grandee and former House Speaker, said the US president looked likely to lose to Trump, and may cost his party their control of Congress if he remains in the race.

A fourth story claimed that Mr Biden was more open than ever to the idea of standing down, and had begun to ask his aides how well Ms Harris would perform if she would replace him.

A source said that while he had initially rejected all arguments about his candidacy, he is now “willing to listen.” Sources told the New York Times that Mr Biden was now “more receptive” to hearing pleas for him to step aside.

Another told CNN: “He’s being receptive. Not as defiant as he is publicly.”

Other report, including from Politico and ABC News, suggest that Mr Biden’s closest allies have now turned on him, dealing his campaign a major blow and raising doubts he can continue to November’s election.

More than 20 sitting Democrats have gone public with concerns about Mr Biden’s age and chances of re-election, while donors have suspended contributions to his campaign and celebrity backers including George Clooney have called for him to leave the race.

Wednesday’s reports suggest that previously-supportive figures at the top of the party now agree that Mr Biden’s campaign is unlikely to win him the White House for another four years.

The claims were not directly denied by either Mr Biden’s team or the three Democrats named.

Mr Schumer confirmed that he had visited Mr Biden this weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, before the assassination attempt against Trump.

He said he had a “good meeting” with the president. A spokesman for the senator said the claim that he had asked Mr Biden to stand down was “idle speculation”, but did not deny it.

Both Mr Schumer and Mr Jeffries have said they conveyed the thoughts of Democratic congressmen to Mr Biden in private meetings. Ms Pelosi’s team said she had been in California since Friday, and had not spoken to Mr Biden since then, but declined to comment on whether she had expressed concerns about his campaign before that day.

Sources told CNN that Mr Biden was defensive in the meeting, and that Ms Pelosi had suggested asking the president’s in-house pollster to join the call to give his views.

Andrew Bates, the White House’s deputy spokesman, said Mr Biden would remain in the race but did not address the content of the conversations he had held with Mr Schumer or Mr Jeffries.

He said: “The President told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.”

Mr Biden has maintained that he will stay in the race, arguing that he is the only Democrat who has beaten Trump in a presidential election.

He has admitted that he “screwed up” in a disastrous television debate against Trump on June 27 and that he does not “speak as smoothly as I used to”, but claims concerns about his health are unfounded.

His reluctance to leave the election race has softened in recent days, as he has set out various conditions for his campaign to end.

In an interview on July 7, he said only the “Lord Almighty” could tell him to stand down and allow Ms Harris or another Democrat to replace him.

Four days later, he said he would step back if his team told him “there’s no way you can win”, and on Wednesday he said he could be persuaded by a doctor if he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition.

Hours after that interview aired on Black Entertainment Television, he tested positive for Covid-19 and has since returned to his Delaware home to self-isolate. In a statement, his doctor Kevin O’Connor said his symptoms were “mild” and that he had received a dose of Paxlovid, an antiviral coronavirus drug.

Despite claims by his campaign that the polls would recover after the debate last month, recent surveys have shown Mr Biden is rapidly losing support in battleground states that he must win to retain the presidency.

One poll on Tuesday found that he is trailing Trump in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Separate research found that the previous Democrat stronghold of New York could flip to Trump in November.

An average of national polls collated by FiveThirtyEight shows that Trump overtook Mr Biden around June 27, and has since built a lead of two percentage points ─ the largest margin since early April.

Democrats fear that a weak performance from Mr Biden would not only lose the party the White House, but could see both branches of Congress flip to Republican candidates.

They say that would allow Trump to pass any legislation without opposition, making it significantly easier to enact reforms that they oppose after the inauguration in January.

Adam Schiff, a prominent senate candidate from California, became the latest Democrat to call on Mr Biden to stand down on Wednesday.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” he said.

“And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”

Mr Biden’s supporters in Democratic National Committee have suggested bringing forward his nomination, which is due to take place in late August, in light of the criticism of his campaign.

The convention’s leaders are set to “propose a framework for how best to proceed” with a virtual process on Friday, but will delay setting the rules for another week.

Mr Schumer and Mr Jeffries have reportedly called for the process to be delayed while the party assesses its options.

One Democrat close to discussions told the New York Times that they had both expressed opinions to Mr Biden confidentially, but were willing to go public with their views if he did not listen.

Two teenagers found guilty of murder when they were just 13 and 14 can be named and pictured for the first time.

Kyle Dermody, now 15, was convicted for stabbing Nathaniel Shani, 14, in the neck in Harpurhey, Manchester, following a row over stolen cannabis.

Trey Stewart-Gayle, 14, was also convicted of murder. Stewart-Gayle, then 13, who had been armed with a screwdriver, was found to have “encouraged and assisted” Dermody.

Following an application by the media, a judge lifted a ban on publishing their names because of “substantial public interest”.

In a ruling, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen said: “The public will wish to know the identities of those who commit such a serious offence in seeking to understand how it is that children of that age can do so. 

“Knife crime in general and the circumstances of this particular case are matters of substantial public interest.”

Dermody must serve at least 13 years, while Stewart-Gayle was ordered to be detained for at least 10 years.

It comes after two 12-year-old boys became Britain’s youngest murderers since James Bulger’s killers when they were found guilty of knifing Shawn Seesahai, 19, to death in Wolverhampton park.

Sentencing Dermody and Stewart-Gayle, the judge said: “That [Nathaniel Shani] should have met his death by boys of a similar age is a tragedy – sadly it is no longer shocking.”

Shani and Dermody, who had previously been friends and attended Manchester Communications Academy together, had met in an alleyway off Tavistock Square on Sep 15 last year as part of a “fight to settle differences”.

There had previously been a “fall out” between Dermody and Nathaniel and they had “engaged in physical fights”, the court was told.

Prior to his death, Shani had become involved in “street level” drug dealing “through people older than him”.

On the day of the killing, cannabis had been stolen from a friend of Shani’s by Stewart-Gayle. Shani was said to have viewed the incident as a “loss of face” and was “determined” to get the drugs back.

An arrangement was made for a “one v one fight” to “sort things”. During the confrontation Shani punched Dermody, who produced a knife and stabbed him in the neck. Stewart-Gayle told Dermody to “do it” after he had produced the weapon.

Shani was pronounced dead at 7.08pm.

During the trial, Dermody claimed he was acting in self-defence, telling the court he believed Shani had a knife.

Stewart-Gayle handed himself in to police the following day and admitted to carrying the screwdriver but denied intent to use it. Both boys were found guilty of murder after a trial.

The judge concluded: “Whatever his flaws, Nathaniel did not deserve to die and not in such a violent way. He deserved the opportunity to better himself and to make a positive contribution to society.

“Unlike you, and by reason of your senseless behaviour, he will never now be able to do so.”

David Lammy has refused to say whether he was wrong about Donald Trump, after previously calling the former US president a “neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.

The Foreign Secretary said Trump had the “thickest of skins” after he was challenged over comments he made as a backbench MP in 2018 and if it could affect UK-US relations if the Republican nominee wins November’s presidential election.

Mr Lammy told BBC Breakfast: “Donald Trump is the biggest, in many ways, of political characters we have at this point on the planet.

“Lots of people have had things to say, but in our common interests, with security as a central challenge in the global community – war in the Middle East, war in Europe – with tremendous challenges for costs of living across the globe, there is a lot of common cause that the UK can strike with the US, and we will do that with whomever is in the White House.”

The Foreign Secretary added: “There is a lot of rhetoric, but look at the action. He was the first to give Javelins to Ukraine after 2015. He talked about withdrawing from Nato, he actually increased troops to Nato.

“So in a grown-up world, in the national interests of this country, of course, if the American people choose Donald Trump as their president, we will work as closely with him as we can, and we will seek to influence him where we disagree.”

Mr Lammy wrote an article for Time magazine in 2018 in which he described Trump as “a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath” who was a “profound threat to the international order”.

He added: “I will be one of tens of thousands on the streets, protesting against our government’s capitulation to this tyrant in a toupée.”

In more recent comments dating back to 2021, when he was in the shadow Cabinet, he said: “Donald Trump’s entire presidency has been a reign of recklessness, narcissism and delusion.”

The Tottenham MP has strained to establish positive relations with the Republican Party both in Opposition and now in Government, including meetings with JD Vance, who has been picked as Mr Trump’s running mate.

He told Sky News this week: “What I would say about JD Vance is that we were able to find common ground.

“We’re both from poor backgrounds, both suffered from addiction issues in our family, which we’ve written about, both of us Christians, and now I’ve met him on a few occasions, and we have been able to find common ground and get on.”

The Foreign Secretary said that he did not “recognise” Mr Vance’s recent comments about Labour turning the UK into the world’s first Islamist nuclear country.

There was speculation prior to the general election that Mr Lammy might not be handed the foreign secretary brief in Government, having held the shadow position for three years.

Names including Douglas Alexander, a close ally of Gordon Brown, or David Miliband, the former Labour foreign secretary, were mooted as possible appointments to the role.

A civil engineer has criticised council officials who approved a huge 45ft extension to his neighbour’s bungalow.

Derek Adams, 67, said that his Paisley home was “dwarfed” by the building now looming large over his back garden.

He tried and failed to stop Renfrewshire council from approving the single-storey extension to the side of the home, as well as a dormer to the front and rear, in 2021.

Mr Adams, who lives with his wife and daughter, claims the extension is even bigger than it should have been after a council “oversight”.

He said a second application for changes to “various openings on the extension and rear dormer” did not include some specific measurements, and claims it therefore should not have been approved.

Mr Adams, who has lived in his home for 28 years, said: “As soon as we come out our back door, it’s effectively sitting on top of us.

“The original bungalow was sitting high, but it’s now sitting about four metres higher than it was.

“It’s just ridiculous. If you read the council’s requirements for a dormer, the first point is they must be ‘small, discrete additions which retain the character of the original roof’.

“This dormer in length is 13 to 14 metres. It’s hardly small and discrete.

“Another point is that they shouldn’t ‘dominate’ the roof. They’re effectively creating a new roof. It’s not really a dormer, they’re effectively adding a second storey. It’s over-developed.”

He added: “But I’m not trying to get to my neighbour, I went round and spoke to him about it. I’m trying to get to the council because of the mishandling of it.

“It’s not the neighbour’s fault.”

After the original application was approved, in September 2022 the council approved a second request from the homeowner for a non-material variation (NMV). 

NMWs are normally used for minor tweaks which do not significantly alter an original application.

The local authority’s decision notice said the changes were “to various openings on the extension and rear dormer” – but the document did not specify any changes in the size of the dormer.

Mr Adams claimed: “What I realised was, between revision A [the original planning application] and revision B [the NMV] there was actually an increase in the length of the dormer.

“My understanding is that shouldn’t have been approved under an NMV request and we should have been notified specifically, but it was ignored. Nobody picked it up … The whole thing is a mess.”

A spokesman for Renfrewshire council said: “Our officers have visited the property and consider the development under way to be in accordance with the approved plans for the alterations to the house.

“The final design for the works was subject to a number of negotiated changes, which is often the case with applications for domestic properties.

“While the depth of the dormer has increased slightly under the NMV, it is minor in comparison to the dormer as a whole and does not raise any overshadowing or overlooking issues.

“Any request for an NMV is at the discretion of the planning authority and, in this case, we believe the changes to the original proposed design for the depth of the dormer were sufficiently minor to grant the request.”

An anti-ageing drug that could help people to live longer and healthier lives is on the horizon after scientists extended lifespan in mammals by 25 per cent.

Imperial College discovered that switching off a protein called interleukin 11 (IL-11) prevented cancer, boosted vision and hearing, and improved metabolism, lung health and muscle function in middle-aged mice.

It may even prevent hair loss and greying.

Videos released by Imperial showed untreated mice with greying patches on their fur, hair loss and weight gain, while the treated mice appeared sprightly with thick, glossy coats.

The treated mice also lived for an average of 155 weeks, compared with 120 weeks in untreated mice.

Prof Stuart Cook, from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Science, at Imperial, said: “These findings are very exciting.

“The treated mice had fewer cancers, and were free from the usual signs of ageing and frailty, but we also saw reduced muscle wasting and improvement in muscle strength. In other words, the old mice receiving anti-IL11 (treatment) were healthier.

“While these findings are only in mice, it raises the tantalising possibility that the drugs could have a similar effect in elderly humans.”

Humans inherited the interleukin-11 gene from fish hundreds of millions of years ago.

But while the adaptation was useful then – and still helps limb regeneration in some species – it is now thought to be largely redundant in humans, and caused thickening and scarring of the tissues and inflammation, which brings ageing and disease.

Researchers hit upon the idea that silencing IL-11 might be implicated in ageing after noticing that the protein increases dramatically in laboratory animals with age.

‘Really excited’

Anissa Widjaja, an assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, which was working with Imperial, said: “Out of curiosity, I ran some experiments to check for IL-11 levels. From the readings, we could clearly see that the levels of IL-11 increased with age and that’s when we got really excited.

“We found these rising levels contribute to negative effects in the body, such as inflammation and preventing organs from healing and regenerating after injury.”

The team had already discovered that the protein causes inflammation and stopped tissues from regenerating properly, so wanted to see if switching it off could dial down the ageing process.

In an initial experiment on genetically edited mice that had the gene producing IL-11 deleted, the simple gene deletion extended the lives of the mice by more than 20 per cent on average,

Next, scientists treated 75-week-old mice – the equivalent of about 55 years in humans – with an injection of an anti-IL-11 antibody, which stops the effects of the IL-11 in the body.

Researchers said the results were “dramatic”. The mice lived up to 25 per cent longer, and the treatment significantly reduced deaths from cancer in the animals, as well as preventing diseases caused by fibrosis, chronic inflammation and poor metabolism.

‘Better lungs’

Prof Cook added: “The mice had stronger muscles, they had better lungs, they had better skin, better hearing, better vision, multiple improvements.

“So not only can we do it by deleting the gene from birth we can do it with a therapeutic drug given later in life which opens up this possibility of now taking this to humans.”

“Our aim is that one day, anti-IL11 therapy will be used as widely as possible, so that people the world over can lead healthier lives for longer.”

Three companies currently have anti-IL-11 treatments in human clinical trials for scarring lung disease, fibrotic eye disease and cancers.

Lassen Therapeutics, which is conducting trials in the US has said that the drug has “an excellent safety profile”, and experts said it would be relatively easy to start a trial for ageing.

Dr Widjaja added: “Although our work was done in mice, we hope that these findings will be highly relevant to human health, given that we have seen similar effects in studies of human cells and tissues.

“This research is an important step toward better understanding ageing and we have demonstrated, in mice, a therapy that could potentially extend healthy ageing, by reducing frailty and the physiological manifestations of ageing.”

The research was published in Nature and partly funded by the Medical Research Council.